The Answer. The Big Diesel. The Great Wall. Springfield, MA. All of these names were floating around the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony. All three of these players that were honored: Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Yao Ming, revolutionized the NBA with their play. Each time they stepped onto the court, the had the attention of players, coaches, and fans alike. Jacob Waxman, who was at the ceremony, commented, “The Hall of Fame was really cool, getting to see some for the best athletes in the world show up to support the inductees. Listening to their speeches and how they got to where they are was one of the best experiences of my life.”

Iverson talked about how a racial brawl outside of a bowling alley would change his life forever. No schools wanted to recruit him coming out of high school until his mother went to Coach John Thompson at Georgetown pleading him to give Allen a chance. Iverson in his speech thanked his Coach Larry Brown, Julius Erving, multiple rappers, and Coach Thompson, who he expressed gratitude for “saving his life.” He also mentioned playing against his idol, Michael Jordan, which he described being in awe being on the same court as him.

In O’Neil’s comedic speech, he referenced many of his commercials and how his father would argue with another NBA Hall of Famer, Wilt Chamberlain, that his son was the best big man in the game. He thanked his parents, and also Kobe Bryant, who he infamously had a rocky relationship with. He also mentioned playing against the other two inductees throughout his career.

Yao Ming had the last speech out of the three players. He joked that Iverson should have had the last speech because “I [Yao] need more practice than him,” referencing Iverson’s famous press conference rant about practice. He was surrounded by Hall of Famers Dikembe Mutombo, Bill Russell, and Bill Walton.

“This was one of the greatest Hall of Fame classes ever. Each one of their speeches were memorable and really revealed a lot about how these players got to where they are now,” commented Mitchell Prescott. a junior.  This group of men will go down as one of the most talented and game changing classes ever inducted into the Hall, for sure.